The company is an indirect descendant of Computer Design Concepts Ltd, a former semiconductor technology startup also founded by Dart.

[10] FTDI created a separate company called Bridgetek in 2016 to focus on microcontroller units (MCUs) and Embedded Video Engine (EVE).

[14] Critics felt that FTDI's actions were unethical, considering that users may be unaware that their chips were counterfeit, or that Windows had automatically installed a driver meant to disable them.

The company also stated that it was working to create an updated driver which would notify users of non-genuine FTDI products in a "non-invasive" manner.

[18][15] In February 2016, it was reported that FTDI had published another driver on Windows Update with DRM components intended to block non-genuine products.